notamermaid

Busy, busy are these river cruise companies, are they not? Apart from renovations, upcoming meetings and fairs, companies are also getting new ships built, in this case a ship that had been announced in a previous year, or at least that what it sounded like at the time. The "Spirit of the Moselle", a sister ship to Spirit of the Rhine and Spirit of the Danube had been a mentioned in the same breath as them, i.e. to be following them closely, which I assumed would be 2023. I had been wondering if the company was still going to go ahead with this one. Now this article says that the keel-laying ceremony took place in Serbia (where the majority of European river cruise ships come from these days) in January: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tourism/saga-expands-fleet-with-new-river-ship The ship will join the fleet in July 2025. notamermaid

For low water this is certainly the most troublesome part. June is a great month for sailing the Danube. Not much flooding and normally enough water at Pfelling, enough water downstream from Vilshofen anyway then. As regards flooding I need to add that while real flooding does not happen that much in June or in (early) autumn, and is unlikely to be high enough for problems from Vilshofen to Budapest, there is the bridge at Passau which is so low that it can keep river cruise ships with a high superstructure from sailing safely under it long before the river itself elsewhere causes problems and the authorities issue a river traffic ban. However, coming upstream from Budapest, by the time you get to Passau your river cruise that is supposed to end in Vilshofen is nearly over anyway. There are docking places in or near Passau before the infamous bridge so getting to Vilshofen by other means of transport is no big deal. notamermaid

For that we look first at your route which is Budapest to Vilshofen. As you avoid the stretch from Vilshofen to Regensburg the likelihood of encountering low water is much reduced. Secondly, let us check the second most likely area for problems which is Komárom to Budapest, this means that sailing in(to) Budapest may not be possible. Data for Budapest is available from 2002, so I have had a look at these figures. Overall, all three months carry a risk of low water but September appears to be the best of them. October and November have more low water occurring. But it is not that much of a difference. All in all we can say that beginning of September is best. But all months can be okay. Every year is a little different. Flooding risk is minimal. notamermaid

Good point about the fonts, thank you. In Times New Roman, i.e. a serif font as opposed to a sans serif font as is the default setting here, it is a bit easier to see: Ill, Ilz, Ilm. notamermaid Edit: @gnome12 we had the same idea at the same time.

I had forgotten to mention this in previous conversations about Cologne docking: there is construction work going on, so one or two docking spaces may not be available, but it appears to be only where KD normally docks. Here is a plan of all the docking areas, courtesy of nicko cruises, if you are interested: https://www.nicko-cruises.de/anlegestellen/koeln I am not familiar with the details of the construction work, your river cruise company will of course know about this. It concerns 235m of embankment, if I have understood the authorities website correctly. For those interested in the construction process, here is an automatic translation of the relevant page of Cologne city council: https://www.stadt-koeln.de/leben-in-koeln/verkehr/baustellenbilder-zum-baufortschritt-der-kragplatte Unfortunately, the flooding in December has delayed their plans. This is what the area looked like before construction work began: https://www.riverdocking.com/de/anleger/koeln-bastei Further upstream - I have learnt - at Neuwied the authorities are not really any further in obtaining a landing stage for the new embankment (ships cannot dock alongside but need a long jetty due to the low water issues that are bound to happen seasonally) as third-party involvement has lead to complicated legal matters that need sorting. New river cruise ships: two ships will be on my river this year that will leave soon again and mostly sail the Danube. The Amadeus Nova is supposed to sail from June. The Viva Enjoy - originally to be called the Viva Three - has been delayed and will now be ready in November. notamermaid

A new year and a quick look at Viva Cruises. Yes, the company is again offering an itinerary that focusses on the Netherlands and also sails quite a distance on the Meuse. No Amsterdam stop on this cruise! And no tulips either... https://www.viva-*****/en/reise/niederlande-highlights Risk of low water negligible in these waters - Rhine downstream from Düsseldorf and Meuse. No real worries about low water levels on this type of cruise. notamermaid

I have made use of this quiet time and had a look at the statistics. There are a few websites I use but none are as good as the Bavarian authorities' ones for the various gauges of the Main and Danube (and the other rivers in their realm). Maxau gauge on the Rhine has some annual graphs but that area is not a concern in low water, our "gauge of concern" is Kaub in the Rhine Gorge. That is the place that cuts the most popular itinerary Basel to Amsterdam "in half". See the conversation of February 6/7. The statistics being a bit "awkward" and time consuming to compile I have tried to condense it and keep it simple. A quick explanation to what follows. I have no older data than year 2008. River levels above 100cm are no concern (i.e. as regards low water) so I used that figure to show that a specific year had no levels of concern. Years with lower levels I have looked at more closely and for them I have included more specific figures. A figure below 80cm gets large river cruise ships in the realm of getting problems with sailing due to their individual draft. So there is no way for me to know if a particular ship can sail or not. The authorities issue no ban in low water, a captain decides for his ship if he will sail or not. Having condensed the data (and making the counting of individual days simpler for me), I cannot get every year to match, so figures differ slightly in below x cm. This list is compiled from the Federal authorities' and a shipping company's websites: 2008 no days below 100cm 2009 15 days below 80cm 2010 no days below 100cm 2011 30 days below 79cm 2012 no days below 100cm 2013 no days below 100cm 2014 no days below 100cm 2015 30 days below 79cm 2016 20 days below 79cm 2017 28 days below 79cm 2018 110 days below 81cm 2019 1 day below 100cm 2020 1 day below 83cm 2021 13 days below 80cm 2022 42 days below 80cm 2023 8 days below 80cm Just in case you are wondering, the figure for 2018 is correct. It was an abysmal year for river cruising - and I dare say for us locals a bad year as well. notamermaid

Riviera Travel is getting two new ships! They will not bear British authors' names: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/riviera-travel-to-add-two-ships-to-fleet-in-2025 Here is more info: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Riviera-introducing-new-generation-river-ships Interestingly, they are different in size, meaning the company is going for the standard size of 135m for the Radiance, while the Rose will be really short: 80m! That is highly unusual. We will need to wait for the announcements of itineraries to find out where both ships will sail. No details of rivers for the two ships are given yet on the Riviera Travel website. notamermaid

The Rhine has so many docking locations at such a variety of towns that you can get an incredibly wide range of itineraries together, if a company so wishes. A smaller ship has more locations available but even with the 135m ships there are tons of options. On the Danube in Germany and Austria it is a bit more limited but you can still vary a lot. Hainburg is one place that has only recently come to my attention. It is a small town in Austria that looks quite attractive. Amadeus river cruises use the town quite often this year as a "technical stop", here meaning to pick up passengers from an excursion. This year the Viva Two actually has a proper stop in Hainburg with an excursion (afternoon guided tour) scheduled on a round trip Vienna itinerary. Hainburg dock was moved and updated in 2018 to allow for safer navigation in the now slightly wider navigation channel around Hainburg. According to a regional newspaper the new landing station can accommodate two large river cruise ships. Hainburg has no English website, so I roamed around videos for a change and found this really nice one about hiking around Hainburg: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fJZUkLQiqQ notamermaid

Thank you. Yes, it is close and convenient. In Koblenz, due to lack of space, they now also dock on the right bank at least occasionally. I guess they will show neither location in the brochures or online. Of course, neither is industrial, just not the "prime spot". Niehl harbour in Cologne is industrial. And it is important to remember that no river cruise ships can dock in Strasbourg city centre as it is not on the Rhine but the Ill (capital i, two small ll) river. Ships are sometimes in the commercial harbour areas or in Kehl in Germany just across the river. I am not familiar with the Rhine river docks in Strasbourg in detail. In Rüdesheim, other river cruise companies dock closer to town than Viking. the prime spot is about where it says "Weingarten in der Brömserburg", Viking's private landing stage is marked on here: notamermaid

Amadeus River cruises in 2025: https://travelweekly.co.uk/news/tour-operators/amadeus-river-cruises-releases-2025-europe-programme Like Riviera Travel (UK) and A-Rosa (Germany), Amadeus is a company that has cruises starting in Cologne on the Rhine. I find that a good alternative to Amsterdam. It is of course more convenient for those coming from the UK but Düsseldorf and Cologne airport connections are worth checking out if you are coming from North America I find. Or connecting from Amsterdam by train. What caught my eye in the article is Hainburg on the Danube. I do not know this as a port but it looks nice and is certainly convenient for exploring Carnuntum, the Roman town. There does not appear to be a website in English: http://info.hainburg-donau.gv.at/ notamermaid

So, apart from the two Viking ships, I spotted - on online tracking websites - these ships sailing. The Viva One I knew would be doing short trips on the Rhine, some starting in Frankfurt and then coming onto "my" river. I had seen the offers in past years but forgotten about them: the Thurgau Prestige (for her Swiss operator) does short trips, too. In addition to those I also saw the Edelweiss. She is a Scylla ship sailing for Thurgau Travel. One of her itineraries is specifically focused on Basel Carnival. Do you remember the announcement last year by Amawaterways that they would start the 2024 season early? A few days ago the Amalucia started her first itinerary this year in Amsterdam, missed (!) the big day, Rose Monday, in Cologne and is now approaching Breisach. A-Rosa sailed throughout January with several ships but is having a break for most of February. All this only applies to the Rhine. notamermaid

The ASTA river cruise expo is in Amsterdam from 13 to 16 of March. At least one river cruise ship will be used as a hotel during that time, Amadeus River Cruises offered cabins on the Amadeus Cara on their website. If you are interested in the event: https://www.travelweekly.com/River-Cruising/Insights/What-to-expect-from-ASTA-River-Cruise-Expo It is says the event is sold out. Still, I guess it must be possible to see the ships in the harbour. notamermaid

Good to read you found them interesting. I have been thinking, if one is okay with drab weather and widely varying temperatures that you cannot predict - it is mild with rain and grey skies right now - then Carnival can be an interesting time to be in Germany on a river cruise. One may not like it but one can say that one has seen the wondrous sight. 😉 More ships than I thought were here last week and this that I spotted online. Will get back to that. notamermaid

That is what I was thinking. Be polite, smile and look engrossed in something. You would be the husband with the nerdy introvert wife team. You may want to go at a time when the weather is favourable for being on the sundeck. It gives you "more space" and more easily obtained moments away from having to engage in conversation. notamermaid

I nearly missed this... Amawaterways had announced last year that they would be sailing early in 2024. The AmaMagna is now on her first 2024 itinerary. Looks like the passengers are having favourable water levels and pleasant February temperatures. I wonder if they got to experience Bavarian Fasching? notamermaid

So what is all this Prussian soldier and princess thing in the Rhineland about? It can be traced back to (almost) a single historical event and Berlin is to blame [when is Berlin ever not to blame, says the jester 😜]. If you wanted to be pedantic about it is to do with a guy who was in Paris called Napoleon but the real blame lies with the victorious Prussians over Napoleon. In 1815 the Congress of Vienna rearranged Europe and the Rhineland became part of Prussia. Carnival in its other forms had existed for centuries but the revelling and excess metamorphosed over a few decades into the fools being a bit more orderly and - that is where the upside down world and jesters with a mirror come back in - the fools storm town halls to take over and they mock the new rulers and their authority. The Medieval jester is the only one who is allowed to mock the king... The mocking and free speech with satire is also present in the idea of the Büttenrede, a speech made not from a podium but from a "tub". This is an elaborate one: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Büttenrede#/media/Datei:Mainzer-Buett.jpg Likewise the idea of critizising the authorities is witnessed in the many political floats in the Carnival processions. Mainz, Cologne and Düsseldorf are famous for it. You can easily find this on the internet if you are interested, they make international headlines every year. And the Jeck, the Rhineland jester? From about Bonn downstream he is spelled with a j, further upstream with a g. You can listen to the difference in pronunciation from this website leading to the one for Geck: https://de.wiktionary.org/wiki/Jeck Apparently, the word is etymologically related to geek. It is an old German word connected with a person wanting to stand out from the crowd with sometimes foolish behaviour and/or ostentatious fashion (clothes). Certainly true for the uniforms. Yes, it is more men than women. But the female noun exists, it is "Jeckin". This may be a bit difficult to understand, but it is interesting to see the fun even in a small place where the enthusiasm is strong. Heimbach-Weis is a suburb of Neuwied but draws the crowds with political floats and many, many groups on foot dressed up in splendid costumes (the lady being interviewed had been a princess and part of an old ladies' carnival club before now doing things "a bit more slowly"): https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/rheinland-pfalz/koblenz/veilchendienstag-2024-umzuege-heimbach-weis-100.html So while this seems all foolish, over the top and mad, there is a serious background to it. It is late in the evening here with me, so time for the fools to burn or bury Carnival. Yes, that is a tradition, too. On Ash Wednesday normal order is restored and fasting begins - the origin of the word Fastnacht. notamermaid

The river levels have been falling nicely again. Kaug gauge did not reach flood mark I. All good. Plenty of room for more rain and a bit of snow melt. This week and into next looking good. About the Viking Tialfi. The ship was indeed in Cologne yesterday. Unusually, it docked in Deutz, the "schäl sick", in Rhenish meaning the other side of the Rhine, usually the right embankment, i.e. in Cologne that is Deutz and other districts. This has happened before, not often at all, but it appears to be happening a bit more than let us say two years ago. No idea if this was to do with high water or even Carnival. I cannot tell you the exact spot. You can walk across the Hohenzollern Bridge. Not a big deal if you are mobile: notamermaid

I am not familiar with that area. What you mean with getting up at 4am is the Morgestraich apparently. Sounds fascinating. A bit early though... I found this website which may help you: https://www.baslerfasnacht.info/basel-fasnacht/index.php notamermaid

It has been a busy day of eating, little drinking by me actually, more drinking for others. Music, shouting, and collecting goodies, mainly sweets that are called "Kamelle" in the Rhineland. That is shortened for Karamell(e)bonbons. You can see it - caramel. Nowadays you also get tiny chocolate bars, packets of paper handkerchiefs and small popcorn bags thrown towards you. Great fun. My voice got a bit hoarse during the parade, I was a bit more enthusiastic than last year. When you shout and smile you may get a "personal" goodie, could be a bigger one then, perhaps even a flower handed to you. Did not get anything special this year but it was nice to have the standard stuff as well. There were two flavours of sweets I had not seen before, looking forward to trying those. Anyway... I posted this last year as well, but for those new to the topic it is a good "instruction video" how to greet and shout during Carnival. A young Australian was given the task of getting through a day of Carnival in Cologne with a "Garde", a unit of men in this case, dressed up as Prussian soldiers. In the video they do not use the "three times thundering..." but he says translated "three times from the heart...". I like that version: https://www.dw.com/en/an-australian-visits-colognes-carnival/video-64742923 notamermaid

Right. This may sound unconnected to Carnival but it is vaguely connected. Last Sunday I went to the tourism fair in Koblenz. Many regional attractions, town and cities were represented but also places from further afield. Nature (walking) and cruises were two big themes, CroisiEurope were there with their own stall (the German agent) and a large stall that combined travel agents and companies for cruising and river cruising drew quite a bit of attention. Mine as well, naturally. For the first time I saw Thurgau Travel, the Swiss company, represented. They (now) have a German office. You could get special reductions at some stalls if you booked at the fair or contacted them soon after. The excursion boat companies were also present. The "La Paloma" boat owner has one of the most interesting marketing ideas that I have seen in a long time. This little vehicle had a plastic box which contained leaflets: The tourism fair was in the Rhein-Mosel-Halle, a concert and events venue. On the sign you can see a traffic problem afflicting Koblenz - the bridge over the Rhine is closed to heavy (weight) traffic. Here is a mobile home used for exhibitions by ADAC, the German motoring organisation. This one is advertising Canada. Can you read what it says on the plaque? Just before I walked up the steps, when I tried to take a photo of the little blue three-wheeler soldiers and a princess appeared. Yes, it was one of those wondrous sights that surprise foreigners who encounter Carnival for the first time. I walked into the venue together with folk having dressed up for a Carnival event happening in there together with the fair. I mean not together, fair downstairs, Carnival upstairs. Now, about those greetings and rallying cries or battle cries. Many towns and cities have Alaaf or Helau but Koblenz has a different one. Just in case anyone forgets it is displayed in front of the venue and greets people: But wait a second, you cannot just blurt out Koblenz Olau! You need to know that in dialect it is Kowwelenz Olau. It is normally spoken three times and the introduction contains "ein dreifach donnerndes..." which means "three times a thundering..." How exactly that works a novice to Cologne Carnival and his chaperone will show in the next post. notamermaid

I have been reporting a bit more on the water levels in view of the fact that more ships are sailing than normal this year, especially the two Viking ships, the Alruna and the Tialfi. So, exciting stuff as they not only have good levels but they are also hitting Carnival. The Alruna is in the far South so the passengers are in the realm of "Alemannisch" festivities. Fasent-Sunndig they call this Sunday today in Breisach and it looks as if there has been a special celebration that the passengers of the Alruna could watch. Their Fasent is different from Karneval: https://www.narrenzunft-breisach.de/ The Tialfi is heading towards Cologne and is currently sailing near Xanten. So it looks like they will see "Rheinischer Karneval". That is quite a thing... I hope all passengers have been prepared by the crew. I have mentioned the dialect but there is more. Carnival seasons have a motto and when people meet and during official celebrations you shout a "battle cry". I will get back to that in a next post. notamermaid

Well, the flooding is back. Heavy rain has made the Main and its tributaries rise. This is Würzburg: The Main further downstream has been draining that excess water into the Rhine since Friday but this is not a wave one on one, i.e. this rise is not seen in the same jump in figures close to the mouth at Mainz. But the Middle Rhine is seeing high levels now. notamermaid

The recent concrete sickness thing, I read about that. There have been reports over the decades here and as I mentioned above I have seen it in a building. I guess it is just something that happens over time, not sure how much can be avoided, but I am not familiar with the topic much. As soon as you put metal in concrete you get two materials that react to each other, you have got to know what you are doing... I have just remembered - there was a case on the Rhine, at Neuwied. I recall from a newspaper report that the wrong concrete was used, i.e. for the re-development about six years ago. It could not sustain the action of the fast-flowing river and the pull from the ships that were supposed to dock there when the embankment was finished. They got it sorted and the new embankment is now complete but there is still no ship docking. Seem to be some further financial and legal issues that need to be sorted. The photos when the locks are drained and the workmen are standing in them are fascinating. That creature in the canal that you posted looks like something out of a black-and-white 50's science fiction film. 😉 notamermaid

The Rhine is draining well all the rain we have had, Maxau is already on the way down again. The Middle Rhine valley is still taking on the large volume of water from the Main. Kaub gauge is still rising. notamermaid